Nantes – Les Machines de Nantes

The “Machines de l’Isle” is an entertainment area on the island of Nantes (located on the Loire river). It includes a massive steampunk mechanical elephant that regularly walks around the area.

The area is located in the former Nante shipyards, and is a cross between Jules Verne, Leonardo De Vinci and the industrial history of Nantes.

It’s not the whole island that has the amusement area, just the top Western portion, but it’s big nevertheless. Entry to the area is free, it’s just you’ll need to pay for some of the attractions.

The hall in which you will mostly likely come in, is enormous. At the end you will already see the steampunk mechanical elephant (see top photo).

Outside that area you’d think you were at a Jules Verne amusement park…

The metal structure you see in the above photo are used to embark and disembark passengers from the elephant.

The Steampunk Elephant

The elephant is enormous.It’s mechanical and it actually walks. You can buy a ticket to ride with the elephant, there’s space for 50 people.

WARNING: The steampunk elephant does walk around (with a big ceremony), however, make sure your kids are at a safe distance. The elephant weighs a ton (48.5 to be exact)!

It does say “watch the children“!!! The elephant doesn’t go fast, but it is heavy.

The area is very vast, with lots of things happening and to see:

Marine Worlds Carousel

The Marine Worlds Carousel (in French “Carrousel des mondes marins”) further on is a marvel of engineering. It’s not a simple carousel as you can imagine.

It’s a 25 meter high structure with 36 moving elements representing the marine world.

Other Exhibits

There are plenty of other things to see and discover, like the Heron Tree (a metallic tree that can be climbed) or the Machine Gallery (an exhibit of the robotic machines) or the Workshop (a place where you can see the machines being built).

Restaurant

Alongside the river, there are several places where you can relax, even have a picnic.

And if you’d rather not bring your own food, there’s a very big restaurant in the water:

The floating restaurant is called “O Deck”, you can access their website to look at the menu or to reserve a table by clicking here (reservation during sunny days are highly recommendable).

The Destroyer Maille-Breze Museum

Though not part of the island, on the opposite side of the river, you will see this floating museum:

The museum is located in the decommissioned French destroyer named Maille-Breze. The ship is the museum, you get to walk around it and discover its treasures (there are also guided tours).

Click here to read more about it on the ship’s website.

Conclusion

Visiting the Machines of the Island of Nantes is a must, especially when the weather is nice, but do expect a lot of people (local and tourists). The place is very popular and for a good reason.

There are several cafes, restaurants and food vendors, so you can stay for lunch while you amuse ourselves.

Click here to access their website.

Related Posts